Video poker that is played on an electronic video poker gaming machine is designed to replicate the play of a hand of poker. Typically, the player is not playing against any other player""s hands or against a dealer""s hand; the player is simply attempting to achieve the highest ranking poker hand possible from the cards displayed to the player. The higher the ranking of the poker hand achieved by the player, the greater the player""s winnings based on the number of coins, tokens or credits wagered by the player. Typically, a payout schedule is posted on the gaming machine to advise the player of the payoffs available for certain winning card combinations.
The forerunner of all electronic video poker gaming machines is the video Draw Poker machine that deals cards from a standard fifty-two card poker deck and displays a single five card hand to the player. The player then selects which of the five cards he wishes to hold (or discard depending on the format of the gaming machine). The draw poker machine then displays replacement cards for the cards the player has discarded. The player wins or loses based on conventional poker hand rankings for the resulting five card hand.
In video Draw Poker, the conventional poker hand rankings that are winning combinations are a Royal Flush, a Straight Flush, a Four of a Kind, a Full House, a Flush, a Straight, a Three of a Kind, a Two Pair and a Pair of Jacks or Better. A payout table is established based on the number of coins wagered by the player and the type of poker hand achieved.
The classic draw poker machine has been modified to use Jokers as wild cards or to use Deuces (or even other cards) as wild cards. xe2x80x9cJokers Wildxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cDeuces Wildxe2x80x9d draw poker still display to the player a single five card hand and allow the player to discard unwanted cards and receive replacement cards. The payout table is modified to recognize the differing odds for achieving various poker hands when wild cards are involved. Furthermore, different poker hand rankings are used in the pay table to recognize different winning combinations that can be achieved using wild cards.
There are many poker formats used in video draw poker. These poker game formats include Jacks (or even Tens) or Better Draw Poker, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Super Double Bonus Poker, Triple Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild Poker, Jokers Wild Poker, Deuces and Jokers Wild Poker, etc. Many electronic video poker gaming machines are provided with a menu so that the player can indicate his choice of the poker game format that the player wishes to play and the player then makes his wager based on upon that choice of poker game format. Each poker format has its own pay table associated therewith.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 (Moody) (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference) describes an electronic video gaming machine and method in which the player may play multiple hands at the same time. The player makes a wager for each separate hand to be played by the player. One hand of five cards is dealt all face up. The player selects none, one or more of the face up cards from the first hand as cards to be held. The cards that are held are reused from the first hand into all of the other hands. Replacement cards for the non-selected cards are dealt into the first hand and additional cards are then dealt to the first hand, if needed, so that the first hand has five cards. Additional cards are also dealt to all of the other hands so that each hand is a five card hand. The poker hand ranking of each five card hand is determined row by row. The player is then paid for any winning poker hands based on a pay table and the amount of the player""s wager.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new form of an electronic video poker game that provides the player with the ability to split his original poker hand into two or more additional video poker hands without having to increase his wager.
It is a feature of the present invention that whenever the player achieves one of the predetermined types of starting hand combinations on the initial deal of a hand of video poker, then the player is provided with the opportunity to split his starting hand into two or more hands without having to make an additional wager. The types of starting hands that the player would be allowed to split are Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces; Two Pair; Three-of-a-Kind; and a Full House.
It is a further feature of the present invention that the player is given the option of splitting his hand after the draw step has occurred. In such a case, the player may only receive an award if one or more of the split hands improves in poker hand ranking.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the player is provided with one or more additional hands of video poker to play without having to make another wager. This increases the player""s opportunity to achieve winning payouts without significantly increasing the monetary risk to the player.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.
The first version of the present invention begins with the player playing a conventional hand of video poker. Whenever the player achieves one of the predetermined types of starting hand combinations on the initial deal of the hand of video poker, then the player is provided with the opportunity to split his starting hand into two or more hands without having to make an additional wager. The types of starting hands that the player would be allowed to split are a Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces; Two Pair; Three-of-a-Kind and a Full House.
After the player has split his original starting hand, additional cards are dealt from the remaining cards to complete five cards hands. Each of the final five card hands are analyzed to determine the poker hand ranking. The player receives an award for each hand that has a winning poker hand ranking and the amount of the award is based on a pay table and the amount wagered by the player. Each of the final hands are considered as having the full amount wagered by the player.
A second version of the present invention involves giving the player the option of splitting his single original hand after the draw step has occurred. In this version, the player may only receive an award if one or more of the split hands improves in poker hand ranking.